The boring bits.
Legal Requirements
As your celebrant I will provide you with all the legal documents you need. I am here to alleviate any stress or anxiety that may come with the process of getting married and to take care of all the correct documentation. Please take time to read the below to understand what’s actually involved on your special day.
Notice of intended marriage (NOIM)
Parties wanting to get married must be over the age of 18 to be married in Australia, unless they obtain permission of a judge or magistrate as well as parental consent.
They must give the marriage celebrant at least one month’s and no more than 18 months notice prior to the marriage ceremony. This notice is known as the Notice of Intended Marriage (NOIM)
Each party is required to show evidence of their true identity to the celebrant by providing documents such as a driver’s licence, proof of age/photo card, a current Australian or overseas passport or a certificate of Australian Citizenship along with another form of photographic evidence.
Parties who have been divorced or widowed or have changed their name by deed poll need to produce the relevant legal documents as evidence.
All documents you show me, as your celebrant, need to be in English or be an official translation of the documents in English, and must be original or certified copies.
The declaration of no legal impediment
Both parties are required to sign and have witnessed a Declaration of No Legal Impediment as close to and before the marriage ceremony.
As your celebrant I will organize sending the required legal documents to the Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages.
The Ceremony Components
There are three (3) legal components which need to be part of any civil wedding ceremony. The remainder of the ceremony can be composed creatively according to the personal needs and wishes of the individual couple.
My role is to support you 100% in having the most personal & unique ceremony that is a perfect reflection of your specialness as a couple. I invite you to have as much say in the scripting and choice of components of the ceremony as possible.
Part 1 - The Monitum
The Monitum actually means “warning” in Latin, underlining the serious, nature and conditions embodied in the legal definition of marriage in Australia.
It is spoken by the celebrant prior to the marriage vows as follows:
“I am duly authorized by law to solemnize marriage according to law. Before you are joined in marriage in my presence and in the presence of these witnesses, I am to remind you of the solemn and being nature of the relationship into which you are about to enter. Marriage, according to law in Australia, is the union of a man and a woman to the exclusion of all others, voluntarily entered into for life”
Part 2 - The Legal Vows
The regulations require that each party say to the other in the presence of an authorized celebrant and the witnesses, the words:
Legal minimum: “I call upon the persons here present to witness that I, [Party 1], take thee, [Party 2], to be my lawful wedded husband/wife/partner” and vice versa.
Couples wishing to personalize their vows further are able to lengthen their vows by adding their chosen wording after saying the above minimum words.
Part 3 - Certificates of Marriage
During the ceremony both parties and two (2) witnesses over the age of 18 will be required to sign and use their full names to complete three (3) Certificates of Marriage including one for the married couple to keep.